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John 3:7 — Word Study

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N1904μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

BSANot may do wonderthaumazō [be astonished, marvel] thathoti I saidlegō to you;su [ye, it is necessary for you] It is necessary fordei you [all]su to be borngennaō [anew, from above, from a heavenly source, of the Spirit] from above.anōthen

Word
Listen & take awayJohn 3
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 7 is in this chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (anōthen) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
John 3:7quick helps
In a sentenceJesus tells Nicodemus not to be surprised that he must be born again.
Who is speakingJesus is speaking directly to Nicodemus.
Where we areThis verse is part of a conversation about spiritual rebirth.
The hard wordγεννηθῆναι
Take awayBeing born again is essential for spiritual life.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause verbθαυμάζω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — John 3:7

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — The New Birth Explainedgenerated

6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
7Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’
8The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

John 3:7 is part of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, where He explains the necessity of spiritual rebirth. This follows the discussion of being born of the Spirit, emphasizing that physical birth alone is insufficient for entering the Kingdom of God. The idea of being born again is central to Christian teaching and highlights the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1John 3:12If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
2John 5:28Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice
3John 6:61–63Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?
4John 3:3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ”
5Job 15:14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

The Key Word γεννηθῆναι, gennaōgenerated

The verb γεννάω (gennaō) means to beget or bring forth. It is used in contexts of physical birth as well as spiritual rebirth. The aorist passive infinitive form here indicates that the subject undergoes the action of being born, emphasizing the necessity of this new birth.

In this context, it signifies a profound transformation that must occur in a person's life to experience true spiritual existence. The phrase 'born again' or 'born from above' captures the dual meaning of the term, indicating both a new beginning and a divine origin.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

In the Berean Standard Bible, the phrase is rendered as 'You must be born again.' This is echoed in the KJV and ASV, which also emphasize the necessity of being born anew.

The translations diverge slightly in wording: the YLT uses 'It behoveth you to be born from above,' while the WEB states, 'You must be born anew.' These variations reflect different nuances in conveying the concept of rebirth.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the sentence is θαυμάσῃς, may do wonder, which governs the clause. The structure includes a negative particle, an infinitive phrase explaining what should not surprise Nicodemus, and a subordinate clause that details what Jesus said.

The sentence is constructed to emphasize the necessity of rebirth, with the subject 'you' (singular) and the infinitive 'to be born' clearly indicating the action required.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word μὴ (), meaning 'not,' corresponds to the Hebrew word אַל (al), which serves as an adverb of negation. This choice emphasizes the denial or rejection of the idea that one should be surprised by the necessity of being born again.

The term γεννηθῆναι (gennaō), meaning 'to be born,' translates the Hebrew יָלַד (yalad), which also means 'to bear' or 'bring forth.' This connection highlights the concept of a new birth as a significant and transformative event.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

John 3:7 tells us that Jesus instructed Nicodemus not to be surprised by the necessity of being born again. This means that a spiritual rebirth is essential for entering God's kingdom, highlighting the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be born again?

Being born again refers to a spiritual transformation that occurs when a person accepts Jesus and receives the Holy Spirit, leading to a new life in Christ.

Why did Jesus tell Nicodemus not to marvel?

Jesus wanted Nicodemus to understand that spiritual rebirth is a fundamental aspect of faith, not something to be puzzled over.

Is being born again necessary for everyone?

Yes, according to Jesus, everyone must experience this spiritual rebirth to enter the Kingdom of God.

How does one become born again?

One becomes born again through faith in Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, which regenerates the believer.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What does being born again mean to me personally?
  2. How can I help others understand the concept of spiritual rebirth?
  3. In what ways have I experienced transformation in my own life?
  4. What steps can I take to grow in my understanding of the Holy Spirit's role in my rebirth?

The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it

Several early church Fathers comment on the theme of rebirth in this verse, emphasizing its significance in understanding spiritual transformation.

Hilary of PoitiersON THE TRINITY 12.56 c. 310–367
Though I have received faith by my regeneration, I am still in ignorance. And yet, I have a firm hold on a reality I do not understand. I am born again, capable of rebirth, but without conscious perception of it.
Early Church Fathers on John 3 →
John ChrysostomCatena Aurea by Aquinas c. 347–407
The wonder of Nicodemus being roused again by the words, He who is born of the Spirit is spirit, Christ meets him again with an instance from nature; Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Early Church Fathers on John 3 →
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of John 26 c. 347–407
Christ then having said, "He that is born of the Spirit is spirit," when He saw him again confused, leads His discourse to an example from sense, saying, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Early Church Fathers on John 3 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on John 3:7 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Marvel not that I said unto thee,...., For Nicodemus was quite astonished, at this doctrine of the new birth; it was altogether new to him, and unheard of by him; nor could he understand, nor

Read John Gill on John 3 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Read Robert Jamieson on John 3 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

There is a twofold admiration, that which is joined with infidelity, and that which is the effect of faith. Our Saviour forbids Nicodemus to marvel at the doctrine of regeneration, as strange and incredible, upon an imaginary impossibility supposed by him of the thing itself. But he that believes will judge that supernatural work of the Spirit, whereby a sinful man is made a partaker of the Divine nature, worthy of the highest admiration. And what our Saviour had said in the general before, that a man must be born again, he now particularly applies to Nicodemus, with those of his order, Ye must be born again. For Nicodemus would easily consent that the pagans, and possibly the vulgar Jews…

Read Matthew Poole on John 3 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Ver. 7. Marrel not, &c.] viz. Through unbelief, for otherwise it is a just wonder, far beyond that of a natural birth, which, but that it is so ordinary, would surely seem a miracle; Miracula assiduitate vilescunt.

Read John Trapp on John 3 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Ye must be born again.—The laws of natural and spiritual generation have been stated as general truths, holding good for all mankind, “that which is born.” But there is a special application to the present case, “Marvel not that I said unto thee (teacher as thou art) that ye (children of Abraham as ye are) must be born again.” In so far as they were children of Abraham according to the flesh, they were children of Abraham’s physical and sinful nature. The law of that, as of all human nature, was that flesh ruled animal life, and animal life ruled spirit, and the whole man became carnal, bringing forth the fruits of the flesh. The law of the regenerate nature was that the spirit, born by…

Read Charles John Ellicott on John 3 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. Ye must] The declaration is brought more closely home. In John 3:3; John 3:5 Christ had made a very general statement, ‘except a man.’ He now shews that none are exempt from it. ‘Ye, the chosen people, ye, the Pharisees, ye, the rulers, must all be born from above.’

Read Cambridge on John 3 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Marvel not - Wonder not. It is possible that Nicodemus in some way still expressed a doubt of the doctrine, and Jesus took occasion in a very striking manner to illustrate it.

Read Albert Barnes on John 3 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

7. Marvel not—When, in John 3:4, Nicodemus in surprise demands how a man could be born again, Jesus in John 3:5 reiterates the statement, and in John 3:6 explains it: but so explains it as to leave it in its own true mystery.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on John 3 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Do not be amazed that I said, ‘You must be born again.’

NETBNew English Translation2006

Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.

RVARevised Version, American1894

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Marvel not that I said to thee, Ye must be born again.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Marueile not that I said to thee, Yee must be borne againe.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Do not wonder that I said to thee, It is needful that ye should be born anew.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

'Thou mayest not wonder that I said to thee, It behoveth you to be born from above;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

You may not wonder that I said to you, It is required for you to be born from above;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Wonder not, that I said to thee, you must be born again.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Don't be surprised at my telling you, ‘You must be reborn.’

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Do not be surprised that I say to you, It is necessary for you to have a second birth.

Word by word, the decisions they made

εἶπόνlegō I said G2036 2 different renderings
i saidASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
sayBBE
γεννηθῆναιgennaō to be born G1080 3 different renderings
be bornASV BSB DBY DRA KJV MSB NWB RVA ULB WEB
to be bornLSV YLT
from aboveNETB
ἄνωθεν.anōthen from above. G509 2 different renderings
anewASV DBY RVA WEB
from aboveLSV NETB YLT

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseclauseadverbialμὴNotverbθαυμάσῃςdo wonderclauseὅτιthatclauseverbεἶπόνI saidindirect objectσοιto youclauseverbΔεῖIt is necessary fornoun phrase · subjectclausesubjectὑμᾶςyou [all]verbγεννηθῆναιto be bornadverbialἄνωθενfrom above

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Non mireris quia dixi tibi : oportet vos nasci denuo.

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܠܐ ܬܬܕܡܪ ܕܐܡܪܬ ܠܟ ܕܘܠܐ ܠܟܘܢ ܠܡܬܝܠܕܘ ܡܢ ܕܪܝܫ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

An independent critical text built from the oldest witnesses then known.

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

μὴ θαυμάσῃς ὅτι εἶπόν σοι· δεῖ ὑμᾶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse all agree
Critical editions
Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993SBL Greek New Testament2010Westcott–Hort1881Tregelles1857–1879Tyndale House Greek NT2017
Byzantine / Majority
Byzantine majority text2018
Received Text
Textus Receptus1550/1894

A witness that read differently would show its variant word here, marked.

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

John 3:7μήNotNotμήθαυμάζωmay do wondmay do wonderθαυμάζωὅτιthatthatὅτιειπονI saidI saidειπονσύto you;to you;σύδεῖIt is necesIt is necessaryδεῖσύyou [all]you [all]σύγεννάωto be bornto be bornγεννάωἄνωθενfrom above.from above.ἄνωθενθαῦμαn.n. a marn.n. a marvel, θαῦμαεἶπονv. I say, v. I say, speakεἶπονἄνωAdv up, abAdv up, above, ἄνωοὐNeg.prt. nNeg.prt. no, noοὐὅστιςRel.pr. whRel.pr. whosoevὅστιςδέωv. I bindv. I bindδέωγένοςn.n. offspn.n. offspring,γένοςἀμήνHebr. veriHebr. verily, tἀμήνπότεIrg.prt. wIrg.prt. when, πότεφοβέωv. I fear,v. I fear, am tφοβέωκωφόςAdj dumb, Adj dumb, deafκωφόςΠιλᾶτοςn.m. Pilatn.m. PilateΠιλᾶτοςοἶδαv. I know,v. I know, remeοἶδαγινώσκωv. I come v. I come to knγινώσκωκἀκεῖνοςDem.pr. anDem.pr. and he,κἀκεῖνοςπάσχωv. I am acv. I am acted uπάσχωῬοβοάμProp.n. ReProp.n. RehoboaῬοβοάμἙσρώμProp.n. HeProp.n. HezronἙσρώμ
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in John 3:7

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
μὴ Not G3361 Particle · negative
1,060× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Not is a word used to show that something is not true or is not happening, like in phrases that say 'lest' or 'God forbid', as seen in various parts of the New Testament.
Tyndale gloss
not
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

μή () is a Greek negative particle used to express subjective negation, often in conditional or hypothetical contexts. It contrasts with οὐ (ou), which indicates absolute denial. μή can function as an adverb meaning 'not' or as a conjunction meaning 'lest.' It appears in various grammatical constructions, including prohibitions and deliberative questions, and is referenced in verses like Matthew 5:29 and John 3:18.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

μή,

subjective negative particle,

used where the negation depends on a condition or hypothesis, expressed or understood, as distinct from οὐ, which denies absolutely. μή is used where one thinks a thing is not, as distinct from an absolute negation. As a general rule, οὐ negatives the indic., μή the other moods, incl, ptcp. [In LXX for אֵין, אַיִן, אַל.]

As a neg. adv., not;

with ref. to thought or opinion: Jo 3:18, Tit 1:11, II Pe 1:9.

In delib. questions, c. subjc. (M, Pr., 185): Mk 12:14, Ro 3:8.

In conditional and final sentences, after εἰ, ἐάν, ἄν, ἵνα, ὅπως: Mt 10:14,

Read the full entry →
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

μή, Sept. for Ox, |X, PN, ἃ particle of negation, which differs from οὐ (which is always an adverb) in that ov denies the thing itself (orto speak technically, denies simply, absolutely, categorically, directly, objectively). but μή denies the thought of the thing, or the thing according to the judgment, opinion, will, purpose, preference, of some one (hence, as we say technically, indirectly, hypothetically, subjectively). This distinction holds also of the compounds οὐδείς, μηδείς, οὐκέτι, μηκέτι, ete. But pris either an ad verb of negation, not (Lat. non, ne); or aconjunction, that... not, lest, (Lat. ne); or an interrogative particle, (Lat. num) [i. e. (generally) implying aneg. ans.; in indir. quest. whether nol (suggesting apprehension) ]. Cf. Herm. ad Vig. § 267 p- 802 sqq-; Matthiae § 608; Bitm. Gram. § 148 (cf. Alex. Bttm. N. T. Gr. p. 344 (296) sqq.); Kiihner ii. §§ 512 sq. p.…

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

μή Grenf II. 384 (mid. 1.8.6.) καλῶς οὖ]ν ποιήσις μὴ ἀμελήσ[α]ς α[. . ἀγο]ράσαι. .. , P Oxy I. 3815 (a.p. 49--50) (= Selections, p. 53) τοῦ δὲ Σύρου μὴ βουλομένου ἐνμεῖναι τοῖς κεκριμένοις, “45 Syrus does not wish to abide by what has been decided,” 2d. II. 2755 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 58) ἔγραψα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μὴ ἰδότος γράμματα, “1 wrote for him seeing that he was unlettered,” BGU I. 22° (a.p. 114) (= Selections, p. 74) TappovOios . . . τὸ παρὸν μὴ ἔχουσα κύριον, ‘ Tarmuthis at present without a guardian,’ and P Grenf II. 779 (iii/iv A.D.) (= Sedections, p. 120) θαυμάζω πάνυ [ὅτι] ἀλόγως ἀπέστητε μὴ ἄραντες [τὸ σ]ῶμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ὑμῶν, “1 wonder exceedingly that you went off so unreasonably, without taking the body of your brother”; cf. P Tor 1. 1¥8-4 (νον 116) εἰ δὲ kal τις θείηι τὸ μὴ ὄν (cf. 1 Cor 1°8)—acc. and inf. follow, P Ryl II. 144°? (Α.Ὁ. 38) ἐπαγαγεῖν αἰτίας τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ‘‘…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μή (mē) — not.

μή,

Elean μά [ᾱ] [Refs 6th c.BC+]. (Cf. Sanskrit mā´, Armenian mi [from I.-[Refs 5th c.BC+] mē´], negative used in prohibitions):—not, the negative of the will and thought, as οὐ of fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. (A few examples of μηδέ and μηδείς have been included.)

__A in INDEPENDENT sentences, used in expressions of will or wish, command, entreaty, warning,

__A.1 with present imperative, 2 person, μή μ᾽ ἐρέθιζε [Refs 8th c.BC+]: rarely with aorist imperative, μὴ.. ἔνθεο τιμῇ [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Attic dialect, μὴ ψεῦσον, ὦ Ζεῦ, τῆς.. ἐλπίδος [Refs 8th c.BC+]perfect imperative [Refs 8th c.BC+] person when perfect = present, μὴ κεκράγετε [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Read the full entry →
Strong's Greek Dictionary

μή

me

a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an

absolute denial); (adverb) not, (conjunction) lest; also (as an

interrogative implying a negative answer (whereas 3756 expects an

affirmative one)) whether:--any but (that), X forbear, + God forbid, +

lack, lest, neither, never, no (X wise in), none, nor, (can-)not,

nothing, that not, un(-taken), without. Often used in compounds in

substantially the same relations. See also 3362, 3363, 3364, 3372,

3373, 3375, 3378.

see GREEK for 3756

see GREEK for 3362

see GREEK for 3363

see GREEK for 3364

see GREEK for 3372

see GREEK for 3373

see GREEK for 3375

see GREEK for 3378

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μή

Neg.prt.

not, lest

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μή mē 1x

a negative particle, can function as a conj, not, for the particulars of its usage, especially as distinguished from that of οὐ, consult a grammar; as a conj., lest, that not, Mt. 5:29, 30; 18:10; 24:6; Mk. 13:36; μή, or μήτι, or μήποτε, when prefixed to an interrogative clause, it expresses an intimation either of the reality of the matters respecting which the question is asked, Mt. 12:23; or the contrary, Jn. 4:12

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Particle-N — Particle · negative
particle — a small word colouring the clause; it does not decline.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PRT-N PaRTicle, disjunctive particle Negative

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
71%not
not71% · 772×except9% · 95×unless5% · 58×surely not4% · 41×lest3% · 32×otherwise2% · 23×other renderings4% · 48×other renderings1% · 16×

1,085 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 23 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial84%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,060 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
καίand, even, also,σύἐγώ
ἵναin order that, so th
αὐτόςσύπροσεύχομαιI pray, pray for
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώαὐτόςεἰμίI am, exist
εἰCond
αὐτόςυἱόςa son, descendenκαίand, even, also,
Article the
καίand, even, also,εἰςδιά
μήNot1060×
what comes after →
Article the
πατήρfather, Father, υἱόςa son, descendenσημεῖονa sign, miracle,
ἔχωI have, hold, posses
καίand, even, also,ποιμήνa shepherdβάθοςdepth, a depth,
εἰμίI am, exist
δίδωμιI offer, giveἐνμετά
τὶς
σύὑστερέωI am lacking, faγεννάωI beget, bring f
φοβέωI fear, am terrified
ἀπόArticle theμόνοςalone, but, only

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceμή · 1,060× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John 1 Corinthians Romans Mark Acts Revelation 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 Timothy Galatians

2 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,321 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
θαυμάσῃςthaumazō may do wonder G2296 Verb · aorist · active · subjunctive · second person · singular
44× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To marvel means to feel great wonder or admiration for something. Jesus' disciples marveled at his power in Matthew 8:10 and 27. It's a strong feeling of surprise or awe.
Amplified meaning
be astonished, marvel
Tyndale gloss
to marvel
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θαυμάζω (thaumazō) means to marvel or wonder, often implying admiration. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, such as in Matthew and Luke, where individuals express astonishment at Jesus' actions or teachings. The word can also convey a sense of reverence or worship. Notably, it is used in passive forms to indicate being looked at with wonder.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θαυμάζω,

[in LXX for נשׂא, etc.;]

to marvel, wonder, wonder at: absol., Mt 8:10, 27 9:33 15:31 21:20 22:22 27:14, Mk 5:20 15:5, Lk 1:21 (R, txt.; ICC, in l., but v. infr.), Lk 1:63 8:25 11:14 24:41, Jo 5:20 7:15, Ac 2:7 4:13 13:41, Re 17:7, 8; c. acc pers., Lk 7:9; c. acc. rei, Lk 24:12 (WH, R, mg. om.), Jo 5:28, Ac 7:31; θαῦμα μέγα, Re 17:6

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

θαυμάζω ; impf. ἐθαύμαζον ; fut. θαυμάσομαι (Rev. xvii. 8 RGT Tr, a form far more com. in the best Grk. writ. also than θαυμάσω ; cf. Kriiger § 40 s.v.; Kihner ὃ 343 s.v.; [Veitch s. v.]) ; 1 aor. ἐθαύμασα ; 1 aor. pass. ἐθαυμάσθην in a mid. sense (Rey. xiii. 3 R

Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

θαυμάζω. For exx. of this verb denoting incredulous surprise, as in Jn 37 a/., see P Oxy ΠῚ. 471° (ii/A.D.) π]ροσθήσω τι κύριε περ[ὶ ov] (cf. Lk 218) θαυμάσεις οἶμαι kal ἀπι[στήσΊεις, “1 will add a fact, my lord, which will, I expect, excite your wonder and disbelief’’ (Edd.), 7d. I. 123° (iii/iv A.D.) πάνν θαυpalo, υἱέ pov, μέχρις σήμερον γράμματά σου οὐκ ἔλαβον, “ΕἼ have been much surprised, my son, at not receiving hitherto a letter from you’’ (Edd.). For the astonishment , bea of admiratio cf. P Giss I. 47° (time of Hadrian) ὡς καὶ [ὑἹπὸ πάντων τῶν ἰδόντων θαυμασθῆναι, with reference to certain goods that had been purchased, and from the inscrr. Preisigke 1799 (from the walls of the Kings’ graves at Thebes) Βησᾶς ἰδὼν ἐθαύμασα, 2. 1802 TIvpos ἐθαύμασα, al, For θαυμάζω followed by εἰ, as in Mk 15" (cf. 1 Jn 3'%), see P Hib 1. 159 (c. B.C. 265) θαυμάζω οὖν εἰ πιστεύεις (so after…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θαυμάζω (thaumazō) — to marvel.

θαυμ-άζω,

Ionic dialect θωμ-, Attic dialect future θαυμάσομαι [Refs 5th c.BC+], Epic dialect θαυμάσσομαι [Refs 8th c.BC+] is variant for{-σαιτε}, [Refs]: aorist ἐθαύμασα [Refs 4th c.BC+], etc., Epic dialect θαύμασα [Refs]: perfect τεθαύμακα [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]aorist 1 ἐθαυμασάμην variant in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἂν θαυμας ώμεθα (to be read -σαίμεθα) [Refs 5th c.AD+]; θαυμάσαιτο variant in [Refs 1st c.AD+]:—passive, future -ασθήσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἐθαυμάσθην [Refs]: perfect τεθαύμασμαι [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

1. absolutely, wonder, marvel, [Refs 8th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

θαυμάζω

thaumazo

from 2295; to wonder; by implication, to admire:--admire, have in

admiration, marvel, wonder.

see GREEK for 2295

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θαυμάζω

v.

I wonder, admire

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θαυμάζω thaumazō 43x

to admire, regard with admiration, wonder at, Lk. 7:9; Acts 7:31; to reverence, adore, 2 Thess. 1:10; absol. to wonder, be filled with wonder, admiration, or astonishment, Mt. 8:10; Lk. 4:22

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θαυμάζω to wonder, marvel, be astonied, Il., etc.

c. acc. to look on with wonder and amazement, to wonder at, marvel at, Hom., Hdt., attic

to honour, admire, worship, Lat. admirari, observare, Od., Hdt., attic:—θ. τινά τινος for a thing, Thuc.; ἐπί τινι Xen.

c. gen. to wonder at, marvel at, Thuc., etc.; θ. σοῦ λέγοντος Plat.

c. dat. rei, to wonder at, Thuc.

c. acc. et inf., θ. σε πενθεῖν Eur.

Pass. to be looked at with wonder, Hdt.; θαυμάζεται μὴ παρών, i. e. I keep wondering that he is not present, Soph.

to be admired, Hdt.; τὰ εἰκότα θ. to receive proper marks of respect, Thuc.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-AAS-2S — Verb · aorist · active · subjunctive · second person · singular
aorist active subjunctive — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-AAS-2S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Subjunctive Person: second Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
16%marveled
marveled16% · 7×marveling11% · 5×they marveled9% · 4×amaze5% · 2×wonder you2% · 1×they were astonished2% · 1×marvelling at2% · 1×do wonder2% · 1×other renderings50% · 22×

44 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 30 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 44 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςκωφόςdumb, deafθεόςGod, a god
μήNeg
ἸησοῦςJesus
Article the
ἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also,Article the
ὥστεso that, therefore
ῥῆμαa thing spokenἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
θαυμάζωmay do wonder44×
what comes after →
Article the
ὄχλοςa crowdἡγεμώνa governorΠιλᾶτοςPilate
ἐπί
Article theαὐτόςπᾶςall, the whole,
λέγωI say, speak
ποταπόςof what kindπῶςπρός
ὅτιthat, since, because
οὐNegλέγωI say, speakμετά
καίand, even, also, nam
λέγωI say, speakἀφίημιI send away, relἀφανίζωI cause to disap

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceθαυμάζω · 44× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew John Acts Mark Revelation 1 John 2 Thessalonians Galatians Jude
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 23 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.57c. AD 75–95

ὁ δὲ θεὸς τοὐντεῦθεν ἤλεγχεν ἤδη τὸν Κάιν φονέα τἀδελφοῦ γενόμενον καί θαυμάζω, φησίν, εἰ περὶ ἀνδρὸς ἀγνοεῖς εἰπεῖν τί γέγονεν, ὃν αὐτὸς ἀπολώλεκας.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 1.2c. AD 96

τήν τε σώφρονα καὶ ἐπιεικῆ ἐν Χριστῷ εὐσέβειαν οὐκ ἐθαύμασεν;

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD
P.Bad. 2 35Ptolemais Hermeiu (Thinites)AD 87

καὶ ἐπιδεξαμένην με κυρίαν εἶναι δραχμῶν κ καὶ τῶν τόκων· ἄφες κεφάλαιόν με ἴσχεσθαι· θαυμάζω, πῶς τὴν πίστιν σου ἤλλαξαι. μὴ μʼ ἀναγκάσῃς οὖν, θέλω ποιῆσαι καὶ ἐπὶ τόπων

P.Giss. 1 47KoptosAD 117

κατὰ τὰς εὐχὰς γνήσια καὶ λίαν ἄξια εὑρῆσθαι ὡς καὶ ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν ἰδόντων θαυμασθῆναι. ὁ μὲν γὰρ θώραξ ἐκ καλοῦ ὠροχάλκου ὢν καὶ τὴν πλοκὴν λεπτότατος καὶ τὸ

P.Phil. 1ArsinoitesAD 119

δοθέν μοι ὑπὸ Δωσᾶ ΣτεφάνουΔωρᾶ Στεφάνου καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ χειροτεχνῶν ὑποτάξας σεσημείωμαι μέν· θαυμάζω δὲ πῶς ὁρισθέντος τοῦ πράγματος καὶ ὑπὸ Μαξίμου τοῦ κρατίστου καὶ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἔτι

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
ὅτιhoti that G3754 Conjunction
1,293× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'that' or 'because', used to introduce a reason or explanation. It appears in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:9 and Romans 8:38. It helps to show cause and effect in sentences.
Tyndale gloss
that/since: that
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὅτι (hoti) is a conjunction primarily meaning 'that' or 'because.' It introduces objective clauses, often following verbs of perception or declaration, and can also serve as a causal particle. The New Testament frequently employs it in this way, such as in Matthew 5:4-12. There is some variation in how lexicons describe its usage, particularly regarding its pleonastic function in direct discourse.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὅτι,

conjc. (prop. neut. of ὅστις).

As conjc, introducing an objective clause, that;

after verbs of seeing, knowing, thinking, saying, feeling: Mt 3:9 6:32 11:25, Mk 3:28, Lk 2:49, Jo 2:22, Ac 4:13, Ro 1:13 8:38 10:9, Phl 4:15, Ja 2:24, al.; elliptically, Jo 6:46, Phl 3:12, al.

After εἶναι (γίνεσθαι): defining a demonstr. or pers. pron., Jo 3:19 16:19, Ro 9:6, I Jo 3:16 al.; c. pron. interrog., Mt 8:27, Mk 4:41,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὅτι [properly neut. of ὅστις], a conjunction [fr. Hom. down], (Lat. quod [ef. W. § 53,8 b.; B. § 139, 51; § 149, 87), marking I. the substance or contents (of a statement), that; 1. joined to verbs of saying and declaring (where the ace. and infin. is used in Lat.) : ἀναγγέλλειν, Acts xiv. 27; διηγεῖσθαι, Acts ix. 273; εἰπεῖν, Mt. xvi. 20; xxviii. 7,13; Jn. vii. 42; xvi. 15; 1Co.i.15; λέγειν, Mt. iii. 9; vill. 11; Mk. iii. 28; Lk. xv.7; Jn. xvi. 20; Ro. iv. 9 [T Tr WH om. L br. ὅτι}; ix. 2, and very often; προεἰρηκέναι, 2 Co. vii. 3; before the ὅτι in Acts xiv. 22 supply λέγοντες, contained in the preceding παρακαλοῦντες [ef. B. §151, 11]; ὅτι after γράφειν, 1 Co. ix.10; 1 Jn. 11. 12-14; μαρτυρεῖν, Mt. xxiii. 31; Jn. i. 34; iii. 28; iv. 44; ὁμολογεῖν, Heb. xi. 13; δεικνύειν, Mt. xvi. 21; δηλοῦν, 1 Co. i. 11; διδάσκειν, 1 Co. xi. 14. after ἐμφανίζειν. Heb. xi. 14; δῆλον (ἐστίν), 1 Co.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

οτι. (1) For ὅτι, ‘‘that,” introducing an objective clause after verbs of knowing, saying, etc., cf. P Tebt II. 4098 (A.D. 5) εἰδὼ[ς ὅ]τι ἐξίι)ουσίαν αὐτῶν ἔχει kal Λυσίμαχος kal σύ, ΚΕ knew that both you and Lysimachus had plenty of them” (Edd.), P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) νομίσας ὅτι (cf. Mt 517) κιχρᾷς por αὐτούς, ““ consider that you are lending them (sc. staters) to me’’ (Edd.), BGU III. 8464* (ii/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 93) γεινώσκειν σαι θέλω, ὅτι οὐχ [HA] Lov, ὅτι ἀναβένις (1. ἀναβαίνεις) els τὴν μητρόπολιν, “1 wish you to know that I had no hope that you were coming up to the metropolis,” 74.9 αἴγραψά σοι, ὅτι γυμνός εἰμει, “1 wrote you that I am naked,” and P Tebt II. 420+ (iii/A.D.) οἴδατε ὅτι ἀπὸ ζημίας ἠμί, ‘‘ You know that I am blameless.” Ὅτι, however, is frequently omitted, e.g. BGU IIL. 8153(ii/a.p.) γεινόσκιν σε θέλω [τὴ]ν ἐπιστολήν σου ἔλαβε (corrected by another hand…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὅτι (hoti) — that/since: that.

ὅτῐ,

Epic dialect ὅττῐ (both in [Refs 8th c.BC+]: conjunction, to introduce an objective clause, that, after Verbs of seeing or knowing, thinking or saying; in [Refs 8th c.BC+] —Usage:

I. when ὅτι introduces a statement of fact:

I. a in [Refs 8th c.BC+] always with indicative, the tense following the same rules as in English, ἤγγειλ᾽ ὅττι ῥά οἱ πόσις ἔκτοθι μίμνε πυλάων [Refs 8th c.BC+]

I. b in Attic dialect, ὅτι takes indicative after primary tenses, indicative or optative after secondary tenses, e.g. ἐνδείκνυμαι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι σοφός [Refs 5th c.BC+] news came that Megara had (literal has) revolted, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: sometimes optative and indicative are found in the same sentence, ἔλεγον, ὅτι Κῦρος μὲν τέθνηκεν, Ἀριαῖος δὲ πεφευγὼς.. εἴη [Refs 5th c.BC+].. and the accusative with infinitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὅτι

hoti

neuter of 3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes

redundant); causative, because:--as concerning that, as though,

because (that), for (that), how (that), (in) that, though, why.

see GREEK for 3748

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὅτι

Cj.

that, since, because

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὅτι hoti 1x

originally was the neuter of ὅστις, that, Mt. 2:16, 22, 23; 6:5, 16; often used pleonastically in reciting another’s words, Mt. 9:18; Lk. 19:42; Acts 5:23; as a causal particle, for that, for, because, Mt. 2:18; 5:3, 4, 5; 13:13; because, seeing that, since, Lk. 23:40; Acts 1:17

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj — Conjunction
conjunction — it joins clauses, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%that
that64% · 856×because19% · 252×for16% · 209×other renderings1% · 12×

1,329 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 8 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial16%object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,293 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
σύ
λέγωI say, speakγάρforδέbut, on the othe
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςσύδέbut, on the othe
οἶδαI know, remember
οὐNegκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakμαθητήςa learner, disciπερί
γινώσκωI come to know, lear
οὗτοςκαίand, even, also,αὐτός
ὅτιthat1293×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπατήρfather, Father,
οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, existοἶδαI know, rememberδύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἐγώ
εἰμίI am, existοὐNegArticle the
οὗτος
εἰμίI am, existArticle theποιέωI do, make
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theῥῆμαa thing spokenζητέωI seek, search f

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceὅτι · 1,293× in the New Testament
John Luke Matthew Acts Mark 1 John Revelation 1 Corinthians Romans 2 Corinthians Galatians Philippians

2 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 8c. AD 40

Μωυσῆς δὲ καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἐπ’ αὐτὴν φθάσας ἀκρότητα καὶ χρησμοῖς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ συνεκτικώτατα τῶν τῆς φύσεως ἀναδιδαχθεὶς ἔγνω δή, ὅτι ἀναγκαιότατόν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τὸ μὲν εἶναι δραστήριον αἴτιον, τὸ δὲ παθητόν, καὶ ὅτι τὸ μὲν δραστήριον ὁ τῶν ὅλων…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὅτι τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκισάντων προσηγορεύθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.3c. AD 100

ὅτι ἀληθῶς βλέπω ἐν ὑμῖν ἐκκεχυμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ πλουσίου τῆς πηγῆς κυρίου πνεῦμα ἐφ̓ ὑμᾶς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
C.Erbstreit14Diospolis Magna (Theben)187 BC

καὶ τὴν εἰκοστὴν τοῦ ἐγκυκλίου καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ καθήκοντα. … ται Προῖτος, καθʼ ὅτι πρόκειται … ἑξήκοντα ἓξ τετρωβόλου καὶ τῆς … … τοπογραμματέως τοῦ Παθυρίτου … ἀρουρῶν

P.Grenf. 1 10 p. 24Hermonthis149 BC

ι τοῖς ἐνκαλουμένοις τὸ ἀντίγραφον τῆς ἐντεύξεως λαβεῖν παρ … τ … … πίστιν ὅτι ἀπαντησα … ἐπὶ τὸ ἐν τῆι αὐλῆι κριτήριον ἐν ἡμέραις λ οὐκ ο

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

δʼ ἐπιχειροῦντας μὴ ὑπακούειν σου … υτέραι στάσει ἐχομένους ἀσφαλισάμενος μέχρι τοῦ καὶ ἡμᾶς ὅτι τάχος ἐπιβαλεῖν πρὸς σέ. ἔρρωσοἔρρωσο ἔτους κϛ Φαμενὼθ ιϛ

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
εἶπόνlegō I said G2036 Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · first person · singular
1,988× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
In plain English
Tyndale gloss
to say
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament — λαλέω, λέγω, λαλιά, λόγος from a scan

In dealing with synonyms of the N. T. we plainly need not concern ourselves with such earlier, or even contemporary, uses of the words which we are discriminating, as lie altogether outside of the N. T. sphere, when these uses do not illustrate, and have not affected, their Scriptural employment. It follows from this that all those contemptuous uses of λαλεῖν as to talk at random, as one ἀθυρόστομος, or with no door to his lips, might do; of λαλιά, as chatter («Kpacia λόγου ἄλογος, Plato, Defin. 416)—for I cannot believe that we are to find this at John iv. 42—may be dismissed and set aside. The antithesis in the line of Eupolis (Meineke, /ragm. Com. Gr. p. 174), Λαλεῖν ἄριστος, ἀδυνατώτατος λέγειν, does little or nothing to illustrate the matter in hand. The distinction which indeed exists between the words may in this way be made clear. There are two leading aspects under which speech…

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Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

λέγω,

[in LXX very freq., chiefly for אמר; λέγει for נְאֻם, Ge 22:16, al.;]

in Hom., to pick out, gather, reckon, recount.

In Hdt. and Att., to say, speak, affirm, declare: absol., Ac 13:15 24:10; seq. orat. dir., Mt 9:34, Mk 3:11, Jo 1:29, al.; seq. ὅτι recit., Mk 3:21, Lk 1:24, Jo 6:14, al.; acc. et. inf., Lk 11:18, Jo 12:29, al.; after another verb of speaking, προσφωνεῖν κ. λέγειν, Mt 11:17, al.; ἀπεκρίθη (ἐλάλησεν) λέγων (καὶ λέγει; Dalman…

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

λέγω (in the N. T. only the pres. and impf. act. and pres. pass. are in use; 3 pers. plur. impf. ἔλεγαν, Jn. xi. 56 Tdf. [ef. ἔχω, init.]): I. in its earliest use in Hom. to lay (like Lat. lego, Germ. legen; οἵ. J. G. Miiller in Theol. Stud. u. Krit. for 1835, p. 127 sqq.; Curtius § 538) ; to cause to lie down, put to sleep; 1. to collect, gather; to pick out. 2. lo lay with, count with; to enumerate, recount, narrate, describe; [οἷ. Eng. tale, Germ. ztihlen). II. to put word to word in speaking, join words together, i. e. to say (how it differs fr. λαλεῖν, see under that word ad init.) ; once so by Hom. in 1]. 2, 222 [yet ef. Schmidt, Syn. i. ch. 1, §§ 20; 48, 2; L. and S. s. vy. B. II. 2]; often in Pind., and by far the most com. use in Attic; Sept. more than thirteen hundred times for 728; often also for D8} (saying, dictum); very rarely for 1393; and soin N.T. 1. univ. a. absol. to…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

λέγω. (1). “‘I say, speak”: see e.g. P Par 47 {= Selections, Ῥ- 21 ff.), ¢. B.C. 153, which is addressed on the verso—mpds τοὺς τὴν ἀλήθεαν λέγοντες (—-as), P Fay 12378 (c. A.D. 100) γνώσομαι yap εἰ ἀληθῶς λέγι, “1 will find out whether he is speaking the truth,” P Ryl 11. 7615 (late li/A.D.) ἃ καὶ ἀναγνώσομαι λεγομένου τοῦ [π]ράγματος, “1 will read them when the case is argued” (Edd.), P Flor II. 1327 (A.D. 257) ἔλεζξ]αν πεποιηκέναι ταῦτα ἀγνοίᾳ, ‘they said they had done this in ignorance,” and the magical P Par 5741238 (iii/A.D.) (= Selectzons, p. 113) λόγος λεγόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, ‘ invocation to be uttered over the head (of the possessed one).”” For the phrase τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, cf. I Cor 11°, Weiss (Meyer 15 ad 1) cites a sepulchral inscr. of husband and wife from Rhodes, /J/Ae 149 (ii/B.c.) ταὐτὰ λέγοντες ταὐτὰ φρονοῦντες ἤλθομεν τὰν ἀμέτρητον ὁδὸν εἰς ᾿Αἴδαν. (2). Closely…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

εἶπον (eipon) — to say.

εἶπον

(present ἔπω is used by [Refs 2nd c.BC+]present in use is φημί, λέγω, ἀγορεύω (see. infr. IV), the future ἐρέω, ἐρῶ, the perfect εἴρηκα), Epic dialect and Lyric poetry ἔειπον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; subjunctive εἴπω (Epic dialect εἴπωμι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; optative εἴποιμ; infinitive εἰπεῖν, Epic dialect -έμεναι, -έμεν, [Refs]; participle εἰπών: also aorist 1 εἶπα (ἔειπα [Refs 5th c.BC+] as I said, [Refs 1st c.BC+] mostly in Ionic dialect Prose, also [Refs 4th c.BC+], and the 2nd pers. indicative and imperative of this form are preferred in Attic dialect, 2nd pers. singular indicative εἶπας [Refs 8th c.BC+]; imperative εἶπον (on the accent see[Refs 5th c.BC+], -ατον, -ατ; 3rd.pers. plural εἶπαν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; participle εἴπας [Refs 4th c.BC+], Aeolic dialect εἴπαις [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in compounds middle ἀπείπασθαι (which see), διείπασθαι (which see)…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

λέγω

epo

a primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being

borrowed from 2046, 4483, and 5346); to speak or say (by word or

writing):--answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on),

speak, tell. Compare 3004.

see GREEK for 2046

see GREEK for 4483

see GREEK for 5346

see GREEK for 3004

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

λέγω legō 2x

to lay, to arrange, to gather; to say, Mt. 1:20; to speak, make an address or speech, Acts 26:1; to say mentally, in thought, Mt. 3:9; Lk. 3:8; to say in written language, Mk. 15:28; Lk. 1:63; Jn. 19:37; to say, as distinguished from acting, Mt. 23:3; to mention, speak of, Mk. 14:71; Lk. 9:31; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἔπω εἶπον prob. made up by Nicander as present of εἶπον. to say, Nicander.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAI-1S — Verb · second aorist · active · indicative · first person · singular
second aorist active indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAI-1S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: first Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
39%said
said39% · 372×he said27% · 260×they said7% · 67×having said4% · 40×other renderings15% · 143×other renderings8% · 73×

955 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 73 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
σοι·su to you; G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · dative · singular
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Amplified meaning
ye, it is necessary for you
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2DS — Personal pronoun · second person · dative · singular
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2DS Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Dative Number: Singular

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύto you;2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

16 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

„οὐ φυτεύσεις σεαυτῷ ἄλσος, πᾶν ξύλον παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ“ (Deuter.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. AD 100

Μεγάλων μὲν ὄντων καὶ πλουσίων τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωμάτων εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὑπέρ τι καὶ καθ̓ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπερευφραίνομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς μακαρίοις καὶ ἐνδόξοις ὑμῶν πνεύμασιν: οὕτως ἔμφυτον τῆς δωρεᾶς πνευματικῆς χάριν εἰλήφατε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
δεῖdei It is necessary for G1163 Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
102× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This means it is necessary or must be done, like when Jesus said it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem in Matthew 16:21.
Tyndale gloss
be necessary
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δεῖ is an impersonal verb meaning 'it is necessary' or 'one must,' derived from δέω. It covers a range of uses, often indicating obligation or necessity, and appears in various constructions, such as with infinitives or accusatives. In the New Testament, it is used in verses like Matthew 26:54 and Acts 5:29. The lexicons note that it differs from similar terms like ὀφείλει, which expresses moral obligation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δεῖ impersonal (δέω),

[in LXX chiefly for infin. with לְ ;]

one must, it is necessary: c. inf., Mt 26:54, Mk 13:7, Ac 5:29, al.; c. acc. et inf., Mt 16:21, Mk 8:31, Jo 3:7, Ac 25:10, al.; with ellipse of acc., Mt 23:23; of acc., and inf., Mk 13:14, Ro 1:27 8:26; οὐ (μὴ) δεῖ (non licet), ought not, must not: Ac 25:24, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

δέ (related to δή, as μέν to μήν, ef. Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2 p. 355), a particle adversative, distinctive, disjunctive, but, moreover, (W.§ 53, 7 and 10, 2); it is much more freq. in the historical parts of the N. T. than in the other books, very rare in the Epp. of John and the Apocalypse. {On its general neglect of elision (when the next word begins with a vowel) cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 96; WH. App. Ῥ 146; W.§5,1a.; B. p.10sq.] It is used ἘΠ ΟἹ δὲ univ. by way of opposition and distinction; it is added to statements opp. to a preceding statement: ἐὰν yap ἀφῆτε... ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε, Mt. vi. 14 sq.; ἐὰν de ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς κτλ. Mt. vi. 23; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι, Mk. ii. 20; it opposes persons to persons or things previously mentioned or thought of, —either with strong emphasis: ἐγὼ δέ, Mt. v. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39,44; ἡμεῖς de, 1 Co. i. 23; 2 Co. x. 13; σὺ δέ, Mt. vi. 6; ὑμεῖς δέ, Mk. viii. 29; of δὲ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

δεῖ. For the conjunctive, as in Mt 26%, cf. P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) ἐάν σε δῇ (for δέῃ) τὸ εἱμάτιόν σου θεῖναι ἐνέχυρον. “even if you have to pawn your cloak” (Edd.). In P Tebt I. 585° (B.c. 111) we have ἐάν followed by the indicative— ἐὰν δεῖ σε συνπεσεῖν τῶι ᾿Ανικήτωι, σύνπεσαι, ‘if you must meet Anicetus, meet him” (Edd.): cf. Mayser G7. p. 325. Other examples of the verb are l’ Par 461® (B.C. 153) διὸ Kal ἡγούμενος δεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου μὲν μηθενὸς αὐτῶι διακριθῆναι» P Lille I. 267 (iii.B.c.) περὶ (corr. from πεερὶ) δὲ τούτου τοῦ μέρους δεήσει ἐπισχεῖν, P Tebt 11. 3414 (A.p. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα κατασπίο]ρᾶς KTA., “ΕἼ will be necessary to send on account of loans of seedcorn for the sowing,” etc., AécheZ 1001" © (Theran Doric —c. B.C. 200) no one may bring forward a proposal ὡς δεείσῃ διαλῦσαι τὸ κοινὸν εἰ τὰς θυσίας, P Flor II. 133" (A.D. 257) ἔδι μὲν ὑμᾶς μηδὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δεῖ (dei) — be necessary.

δεῖ:

subjunctive δέη, sometimes contraction δῆ (in codices of Comedy texts, as [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὁπόσου κα δῆ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; infinitive δεῖ; participle δέον (see. infr. IV): imperfect ἔδει, Ionic dialect ἔδεε: future δεήσει [Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist I ἐδέησε [Refs 5th c.BC+] —Impers. from δέω (A), there is need (the sense of moral obligation, properly belonging to χρή, is later, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

I. c.accusative person et infinitive, it is needful for one to do, one must, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+] why need the Argives fight? [Refs 8th c.BC+]: with nominative of the pronoun, ἡγούμην.. δεῖν.. μεγαλοψυχότερος φαίνεσθαι [Refs 5th c.BC+]: rarely with dative person, there is need of.. for.., θεοῖσι προσβαλεῖν χθονὶ ἄλλην δεήσει γαῖαν [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δεῖ

dei

3d person singular active present of 1210; also deon deh-on'; neuter

active participle of the same; both used impersonally; it is (was,

etc.) necessary (as binding):--behoved, be meet, must (needs), (be)

need(-ful), ought, should.

see GREEK for 1210

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δεῖ

v.

it is necessary, inevitable

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δεῖ dei 101x

it is binding, it is necessary, it is proper; it is inevitable, Acts 21:22

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δεῖ from δέω1, to bind c. acc. pers. et inf., δεῖ τινὰ ποιῆσαι it is binding on one to do a thing, one must, one ought, Lat. oportet, Hom., etc.:—rarely, δεῖ σε ὅπως δείξεις ῀ δεῖ σε δεῖξαι, Soph.: —rarely also c. dat. pers. et inf., there is need for one to do, δεῖ τινὶ ποιήσαι Eur., Xen.

c. acc. rei et inf., δεῖ τι γενέσθαι Thuc., etc.:—for the phrase οἴομαι δεῖν, v. οἴομαι:— when used absol., an inf. may be supplied, μὴ πεῖθ᾽ ἃ μὴ δεῖ (sc. πείθειν) Soph., etc.

(from δέω2, to want), c. gen. rei, there is need of, there is wanting, Lat. opus est re, οὐδὲν δεῖ τινός Hdt., attic:—phrases, πολλοῦ δεῖ there wants much, far from it; ὀλίγου δεῖ there wants little, all but:— in answers, πολλοῦ γε δεῖ, πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ far from it, Ar., Dem.; πλεῦνος δεῖ it…

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PAI-3S — Verb · present · active · indicative · third person · singular
present active indicative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PAI-3S Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: Active Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Singular

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

for (ki (conjunction), le, from 'el (preposition), and various other words. In the New Testament also the words are various, chiefly gar, kai gar, hoti (conjunctions); anti apo eis dia (accusative), epi (dative and accusative), peri (genitive), pros (genitive and accusative), huper (genitive) (prepositions)): the English Revised Version and the American Standard Revised Version give in many cases more literal or more accurate renderings than those in the King James Version.

In the New Testament the most important preps. from a doctrinal point of view are anti, "face to face," "over against," "instead," "on behalf of," peri, "around," "about," "concerning," huper, "over," "on behalf of." The first has been claimed as stating the substitutionary nature of Christ's sacrifice as contrasted with huper and peri, more frequently used of it. But, although anti in the New Testament often means…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
53%it behooves
it behooves53% · 56×it is necessary8% · 9×it was necessary for7% · 7×it is necessary for7% · 7×it was necessary6% · 6×necessary3% · 3×needing3% · 3×other renderings12% · 13×other renderings2% · 2×

106 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 21 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 102 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ὅς
ἐναὐτόςὥραan hour, season
ὅτιthat, since, because
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakσύ
ἐγώ
πατήρfather, Father, εὐαγγελίζωI bring good newτίςIrg
σύ
οἶκοςa house, househoλέγωI say, speakτίςIrg
οὐNeg
ὅπουwhere, whitherἔτοςa yearκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
δεῖIt is necessary for102×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
λαλέωI speak, sayσύνσυναποθνῄσκωI die together w
αὐτός
εἰςπολύςmuch, many, ofteἐκ
Article the
υἱόςa son, descendenἀναγινώσκωI readβασιλείαkingship, sovere
γάρfor
Article theγίνομαιI come into beinοὗτος
σύ
οὖνtherefore, thenγεννάωI beget, bring fεἷςone

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceδεῖ · 102× in the New Testament
Acts Luke John Matthew Revelation Mark 1 Corinthians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians Hebrews Romans Titus

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament19 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 19 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.23c. AD 75–95

ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος νομοθέτης ἀκραιφνῆ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἔχοντα τὸν θεὸν ἀποφήνας ᾠήθη δεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐκείνης πειρᾶσθαι μεταλαμβάνειν καὶ τοὺς μὴ ταῦτα φρονοῦντας μηδὲ μὴν πιστεύοντας ἀπαραιτήτως ἐκόλασε.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.1c. AD 100

Δεῖ οὖν ἡμᾶς περὶ τῶν ἐνεστώτων ἐπιπολὺ ἐραυνῶντας ἐκζητεῖν τὰ δυνάμενα ἡμᾶς σώζειν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 4th c. AD
P.Edg. $1Syrien253 BC

λοιπὰ τὰ ἐνταῦθα ὡς ἂν ἐκποιῆι πειρῶ ἐπισκοπεῖν· οὕτως γὰρ ἡμῖν μᾶλλον ἔσται τὰ δέοντα. καὶ τὰ γενημάτια δὲ ἵνα τρόπωι τινὶ συγκομισθῆι ἐπιμελές σοι ἔστω. καὶ ἐάν τι

P.Grenf. 1 11Arsinoites182 BC

προσταχθέντος Ἑρμοκράτει τῶι ἀρχιφυλακίτηι, τὸν ὅρκον ἐπιτελεσθῆναι, τοῦ δὲ χρόνου ἐν ὧι τὸν ὅρκον ἔδει ἐπιτελεῖσθαι μήπω ἐνεστηκότος, ἐπέδωκάν σοι ἄλλο ὑπόμνημα κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἐπιβαλόντι ἐπὶ τοὺς τοπους

P.Dryton 43155 BC–143 BC

ἐδώκαμεν αὐτῶι γράστεως τοῖς κτήνεσι … ἐφʼ ἁμάξης εἰς δέοντα … … που πυροῦ ιθ 𐅵 … … αὐταὶ ἐν τῶι ἐπὶ κλίμακος

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
ὑμᾶςsu you [all] G4771 Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
2,892× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in John as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This Greek word means 'you' and is used to address someone directly, like in John 1:30 and Matthew 26:64. It's a way to emphasize or contrast the person being spoken to. The KJV Bible translates it as 'thou'.
Tyndale gloss
you
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

σύ is the second-person singular pronoun meaning 'you' in Greek. It has various forms: genitive σοῦ, dative σοί, and accusative σέ. The word can be used for emphasis or contrast, particularly in the New Testament, as seen in verses like Matthew 26:64. It also appears in various dialects and has enclitic forms.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

σύ,

pron. of 2nd pers.,

thou, you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, pl., ὑμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς (enclitic in oblique cases sing., except after prep. (BL, §48, 3), though πρὸς σέ occurs in Mt 25:39). Nom. for emphasis or contrast: Jo 1:30, 42 4:10 5:33, 39, 44, Ac 4:7, Eph 5:32; so also perhaps σὺ εἶπας, Mt 26:64, al. (M, Pr., 86); before voc., Mt 2:6, Lk 1:76, Jo 17:5, al.; sometimes without emphasis (M, Pr., 85f.), as also

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

σύ, pron. of the second pers. (Dor. and Aeol. τύ, Boeot. Tov), gen. σοῦ, dat. σοί, ace. σέ (which oblique cases are enclitic, unless a preposition precede; yet πρός σε is written [uniformly in Ree. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18), in Grsb. (exe. Jn. xxi. 22, 23), in Treg. (exc. Mt. xxvi. 18; Acts xxiii. 30), in Lchm. (exe. Mt. xxvi.18; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; xxi. 22, 23; Acts xxiii. 30), in Tdf. (exe. Mt. xxvi. 18; Lk. i. 19; Jn. xvii. 11, 13; Jn. xxi. 22; Acts xxiii. 18, 30; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Tit. iii. 12); also by WH in Mt. xxv. 39], see ἐγώ, 2; Lipsius, Grammat. Untersuch. p. 62 sq. [W. §6, 3; B. 31 (27)]); plur. ὑμεῖς, εἴς. : Lat. tu, ete., vos, ete.; thou, ete., ye,ete. The nominatives ov and ὑμεῖς are expressed for emphasis — before a vocative, as σὺ Βηθλεέμ, Mt. ii. 6; σὺ παιδίον (Leian. dial. deor. 2, 1), Lk. i. 76; add, Jn. xvii. 5; Acts i. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 11, etc.; ὑμεῖς of Φαρισαῖοι, Lk. xi. 39…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

σύ (su) — you.

σύ [ῠ],

thou: pronoun of the second person:—Epic dialect nominative τύνη [ῡ] [Refs 8th c.BC+] (Laconian dialect τούνη [Refs 5th c.AD+]; Aeolic dialect σύ [Refs 7th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τύ [ῠ] [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τού [short syllable] [Refs 6th c.BC+] (also τούν [Refs]σύ, [Refs 8th c.BC+]—Gen. σοῦ, [Refs], elsewhere only Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; enclitic σου, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (also in Lyric poetry, [Refs 8th c.BC+] (which also occurs in Lyric poetry, [Refs 7th c.BC+], and as enclitic σευ, [Refs 8th c.BC+], σεο (enclitic) [Refs] σευ (enclitic) [Refs]:—Doric dialect τεῦ, τευ, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; rarely τέο, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Boeotian dialect τεῦς [Refs 6th c.BC+]; Doric dialect τεοῦς [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τοι variant in [Refs]; enclitic τεος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; other Doric dialect forms are τίω, τίως, both [Refs 3rd c.BC+]—Dat. σοί, [Refs 8th c.BC+]…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

σύ

su

the person pronoun of the second person singular; thou:-- thou. See

also 4571, 4671, 4675; and for the plural 5209, 5210, 5213, 5216.

see GREEK for 4675

see GREEK for 4571

see GREEK for 4671

see GREEK for 5209

see GREEK for 5210

see GREEK for 5213

see GREEK for 5216

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

σύ, σοῦ, σοί, σέ

Pers.pr.

you

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

σύ sy 2x

you, gen., σοῦ, dat., σοί, acc., σέ, Mt. 1:20; 2:6

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Pron-2AP — Personal pronoun · second person · accusative · plural
accusative — the one it is done to — the object.
Agrees with anything else marked plural.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

P-2AP Part of Speech: Personal pronoun Person: second Case: Accusative Number: Plural

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ol: Used in various combinations, and with different meanings.

(1) All along, "Weeping all along as he went" (Jer 41:6), i.e. throughout the whole way he went, feigning equal concern with the men from Shiloh, etc., for the destruction of the Temple, so as to put them off their guard.

(2) All in all, "That God may be all in all" (1Co 15:28, Greek: panta en pasin, "all things in all (persons and) things"). "The universe, with all it comprises, will wholly answer to God's will and reflect His mind" (Dummelow).

(3) All one, "It is all one" (Job 9:22), "it makes no difference whether I live or die."

(4) At all, "If thy father miss me at all" (1Sa 20:6), "in any way," "in the least."

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
78%you
you78% · 2412×you yourselves7% · 221×you yourself5% · 168×your3% · 87×other renderings3% · 96×other renderings3% · 89×

3,073 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 37 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject28%object24%adverbial23%indirect object20%predicate5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,892 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
ἀμήνHebrδέbut, on the otheἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐγώοὕτωthus, so, in thiμήNeg
ἐν
Article theεἰμίI am, existγίνομαιI come into bein
πρός
ἔρχομαιI come, goἐγώπέμπωI send
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakπαρακαλέωI summon, entreaθέλωI will, wish, de
σύyou [all]2892×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἐνἁμαρτίαa sin
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theεἰρήνηpeace, peace of οὐNeg
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theπᾶςall, the whole, οὐNeg
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐν
ἐν
Article theποῖοςIrgΧριστόςanointed, the Me

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceσύ · 2,892× in the New Testament
Matthew Luke John Acts Mark 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Romans 1 Thessalonians Revelation Hebrews Colossians

16 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 450 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.48c. AD 40

„οὐ φυτεύσεις σεαυτῷ ἄλσος, πᾶν ξύλον παρὰ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ“ (Deuter.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.101c. AD 75–95

παύσομαι δὲ τοῦ λοιποῦ μετὰ τοσαύτης ὀργῆς τὰς τιμωρίας ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν εἰσπραττόμενος καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον σοῦ παρακαλοῦντος.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. AD 100

Μεγάλων μὲν ὄντων καὶ πλουσίων τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωμάτων εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὑπέρ τι καὶ καθ̓ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπερευφραίνομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς μακαρίοις καὶ ἐνδόξοις ὑμῶν πνεύμασιν: οὕτως ἔμφυτον τῆς δωρεᾶς πνευματικῆς χάριν εἰλήφατε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 35Ptolemais - Akko (Syrien)103 BC

τοῦ ἀποδοθῆι τὸν ἐπεσταλμένον ἡμῖν κατὰ μῆνα πυρὸν τοῖς παρʼ ἡμῶν. διʼ ἄλλων γεγράφαμεν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν βουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶς προσφωνήσεως προσπεπτωκυίας. ἑαυτῶν δὲ ἐπιμελόμενοι ἵνʼ ὑγιαίνητε, — ἔσμεν ἐν

P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς ἐν Πηλουσίωι θεοῖς. καλῶς ποιήσεις διαλύσας Ἁρκοννῆσιν καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 41Thebais3 BC

παρὰ Πετεύριος διεθέντος μου ὑπάρξει σοι εἰς στέφανον χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δεκάπεντε, τάλαντα ιε. εὐτύχει .

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
γεννηθῆναιgennaō to be born G1080 Verb · aorist · passive · infinitive
97× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To beget means to produce or create offspring, and is used to describe the father or mother of a child. It can also mean to regenerate or be born again, as seen in Matthew and Luke.
Amplified meaning
anew, from above, from a heavenly source, of the Spirit
Tyndale gloss
to beget
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γεννάω is a verb meaning to beget or bring forth, primarily used in the context of fathers begetting children and mothers giving birth. It also extends metaphorically to concepts like regeneration and producing effects in various contexts. The New Testament uses it in passages such as Matthew 1:1-16 and John 3:4, where it refers to both physical birth and spiritual rebirth.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γεννάω, -ῶ

(< γέννα, poët. for γένος),

[in LXX chiefly for ילד ;]

of the father, to beget: c. acc., Mt 1:1-16, Ac 7:8, 29; seq. ἐκ, Mt 1:3, 5, 6.

Of the mother, to bring forth, bear: Lk 1:13, 57 23:29, Jo 16:21; εἰς δουλείαν, Ga 4:24. Pass.

to be begotten: Mt 1:20;

to be born: Mt 2:1, 4 19:12 26:24, Mk 14:21, Lk 1:35, Jo 3:4, Ac 7:20, Ro 9:11,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

γεννάω, -@ ; fut. γεννήσω ; 1 aor. ἐγέννησα; pf. yeyevynka; [Pass., pres. γεννάομαι, -ῶμαι]; pf. yeyevynpar; 1 aor. ἐγεννήθην ; (fr. γέννα, poetic for γένος) ; in Grk. writ. fr. Pind. down; in Sept. for 37°; to beget; 1. properly : of men begetting children, Mt. i. 1-16; Acts vii. 8, 29; foll. by ἐκ with gen. of the mother, Mt. i. 3, 5, 6; more rarely of women giving birth to children, Lk. i. 13, 57; xxiii. 29; Jn. xvi. 215; εἰς δουλείαν to bear a child unto bondage, that will be a slave, Gal. iv. 24, ({ Xen. de rep. Lae. 1, 3]; Leian. de sacrif.6; Plut. de liber. educ. 5; al.; Sept. Is. xvi. 9; 4 Mace. x. 2, etc.). Pass. to be begotten: τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθέν that which is begotten in her womb, Mt. i. 20; to be born: Mt. ii. 1, 4 [W. 266 (250) ; B. 203 (176) ]; xix. 12; xxvi. 24; Mk. xiv. 21; Lk. i. 35; Jn. 111. 4; [Acts vii. 20]; Ro. ix. 11; Heb. xi. 23; with the addition εἰς τὸν κόσμον…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

γεννάω. P Fay 289 (A.p. 150-1) (= Selections, p. 82) ἀπογραφόμεθα τὸν γεννηθέντα ἡμεῖν ... υἱόν : the same formula in BGU I. 111} (ii/a.p.). Ῥ Gen I. 191 (Δ... 148) μηδέ[π]ω pov yevvyO(elons), 2. 3314 (ab. 156) γεννηθέντα [τ]ῷ ts (ἔτει) ᾿Αντω[νίνου] Καίσαρος, Sy// 406° (A.D. 147) συνησθέντες μοι γεννηθέντος υἱοῦ (of civic congratulations sent to Antoninus), C. avd B. ii. 590 (p. 656) Λούκιος γυν αι]κὶ ἰδίᾳ σεμνοτάτῃ, γεννηθείσῃ ἔτους Ῥξα (=a.p. 77), BGU I. 132 11:5 (ii/A.D.) Ἥρων ἄλλος vids μη(τρὸς) τῆς α(ὐτῆς) yevνηθ(είς). The confusion of forms from γίνομαι and forms from γεννάω, which gave a start to the mixing of γένημα and γέννημα, produces in BGU I. 28'® (Ἀν. 183) and riot (A.b. 138-9) the form γενηθέντα : see Deissmann 4S p. 154. With Mk 14%! cf. OGZS 45819 διὸ ἄν τις δικαίως ὑπολάβοι τοῦτο ἁτῶι ἀρχὴν τοῦ βίου Kal τῆς ζωῆς γεγονέναι, ὅ ἐστιν πέρας καὶ ὅρος τοῦ μεταμέλεσθαι, ὅτι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γεννάω (gennaō) — to beget.

γενν-άω,

future middle γεννήσομαι in passive sense, [Refs 1st c.BC+] (but -ηθήσομαι[Refs]: (γέννα):—causal of γίγνομαι (compare γείνομαι), mostly of the father, beget, ὁ γεννήσας πατήρ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οἱ γεννήσαντές σε your parents, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅθεν γεγενναμένοι sprung, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the mother, bring forth, bear, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—middle, produce from oneself, create, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. produce, grow, get, κἂν σῶμα γεννήσῃ μέγα [Refs 5th c.BC+]

3. metaphorically, engender, produce, λήθη τῶν ἰδίων κακῶν θρασύτητα γεννᾷ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; γεννῶσι τὸν οὐρανὸν [οἱ φιλόσοφοι] call it into existence, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ὁ ἐξ ἀσωμάτου γεννῶν λόγος[Refs 3rd c.AD+]; of numbers, produce a total, [Refs 1st…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γεννάω

gennao

from a variation of 1085; to procreate (properly, of the father, but

by extension of the mother); figuratively, to regenerate:--bear,

beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make,

spring.

see GREEK for 1085

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γεννάω

v.

I beget, bring forth, give birth to

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γένημα genēma 4x

natural produce, fruit, increase, Mt. 26:29; Mk. 14:25; Lk. 12:18; 22:18; 2 Cor. 9:10*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

γεννάω 11), of the father, to beget, engender, Aesch., Soph.; rarely of the mother, to bring forth, Aesch.; οἱ γεννήσαντες the parents, Xen.; τὸ γεννώμενον the child, Hdt.:—like φύω 1. 2, as κἂν σῶμα γεννήσηι μέγα even if he grow, get a large body, i. e. if he be of giant frame, Soph.

metaph. to produce, Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-APN — Verb · aorist · passive · infinitive
aorist passive infinitive — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-APN Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Aorist Voice: Passive Mood: iNfinitive TVM equivalent: G5683

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

See BORN.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
40%begat
begat40% · 39×born18% · 17×has been born5% · 5×having been born4% · 4×have begotten3% · 3×he begat2% · 2×shall be born2% · 2×be born2% · 2×other renderings24% · 23×

97 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 30 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb96%object2%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 97 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
δέbut, on the other ha
ἸακώβPropἸσαάκPropἸούδαςJudah, Judas, Ju
Article the
πᾶςall, the whole, καίand, even, also,ἀγαπάωI love
οὐNeg
εἰCondὅςπορνείαfornication, ido
θεόςGod, a god
Article theἐκ
τυφλόςblind
ὅτιthat, since, becἵναin order that, sὀφθαλμόςthe eye
γεννάωto be born97×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸσαάκPropἸακώβPropἄνθρωποςa man, one of th
ἐκ
Article theπνεῦμαwind, breath, spὕδωρwater
καίand, even, also, nam
μαστόςa breast, papεἰςοὗτος
ἐν
ΒηθλέεμPropΤαρσόςTarsusArticle the
υἱόςa son, descendent
σύδύο

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceγεννάω · 97× in the New Testament
Matthew John 1 John Acts Hebrews Luke Galatians 1 Corinthians 2 Peter 2 Timothy Mark Philemon
Across the New Testament13 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 142 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome The Didache
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 51c. AD 40

αὐτίκα γοῦν ὁ ἓξ συντιθέμενος ἐκ δυοῖν τριάδων οὐκέτι γεννᾶται πολυπλασιασθεισῶν, ἀλλ’ ἕτερος, ὁ ἐννέα.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς ἐκ Κατούρης Ἁβράμῳ γαμηθείσης τὸ τῶν Τρωγλοδυτῶν Ἀράβων ἔθνος ἐγεννήθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 19.5c. AD 100

οὐ φονεύσεις τέκνον ἐν φθορᾷ, οὐδὲ πάλιν γεννηθὲν ἀποκτενεῖς.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 0th c. BC 1st c. AD
PSI 12 1242101 BC–AD 100

ἀπαλλάξομεν. εὖ δʼ ἂν ἔχοι καὶ ὑμᾶς ἑορτάσαι πρεπόντως τῆι πρώτηι γενεθλίωι Διονυσίου πρώτου γεννηθέντος παιδίου. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἤδη πρὸς τῶι πλεῖν ἦμεν. ἀσπάζου τὴν μητέρα καὶ Διονύσιον καὶ

P.Warr. 2ArsinoitesAD 72

ἀπογράφομαι τὸν ἐπιγεννηθέντα μοι ἐκ τῆς συνούσης μοι γυναικὸς Ταμάρωνος τῆς Ἡρακλείου υἱὸν Ἡρακλείδην γεγεννημένον τῶι β ἔτει Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Οὐεσπασιανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ καὶ ὄντα ἐτῶν γ ἐπιδίδωμι τὴν ἀπογραφήν.

P.Mich. 3 203Pselkis (Nubien)AD 114–AD 116

Ἰουλλίου πάντα ἐκομισάμην καὶ διὰ τοῦ παιδαρίου Ἰουλίου κάλαθον ἐλαιῶν. γινώσκειν σε θέλω ὅτι ἐγεννήθη μοι ἄλλο παιδίον ἄρσενον ᾧ ὄνομα Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων θεῶν θελόντων. ἐὰν εὕρω εὐκαιρίαν ἐργασίαν

Not may do wonder that I said to you; It is necessary for you [all] to be born from above.
ἄνωθεν.anōthen from above. G509 Adverb
13× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in John than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
From above can mean coming from heaven, like Jesus coming from heaven in John 3:31. It can also mean again or anew, like being born again in John 3:3.
Tyndale gloss
from above/again
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἄνωθεν (i.e., *anōthen*) is an adverb meaning 'from above' or 'from the beginning.' It can also imply 'again' or 'anew.' The term is used in various contexts in the New Testament, including references to heavenly origins (John 3:31) and the idea of rebirth (John 3:3, 7). Some lexicographers debate its meaning in specific verses, particularly regarding its use in John.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἄνωθεν

adv,

(< ἄνω),

from above: ἀπὸ ἄ., Mt 27:51, Mk 15:38; ἐκ τῶν ἄ., Jo 19:28; meaning, from heaven: Jo 3:31 19:11, Ja 1:17 3:15, 17 .

from the first, from the beginning: Lk 1:3, Ac 26:5; whence

anew, again: Jo 3:3, 7, (so most, but v. Meyer, in l.; cf. Field, Notes, 86 f.); πάλιν ἄ., Ga 4:9 (MM, VGT, s.v.).†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἄνωθεν, (dvw),adv.; a. from above, froma higher place: ἀπὸ ἄνωθεν (W. § 50, 7 N. 1), Mt. xxvii. 51 ['Tdf. om. ἀπό] ; Mk. xv. 38; ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν from the upper part, from the top, Jn. xix. 23. Often (also in Grk. writ.) used of things which come from heaven, or from God as dwelling in heaven: Jn. iii. 31; xix.11; Jas. i. 173 iii. 15,17. Ὁ. from the first: Lk. i. 3; then, from the beginning on, from the very first: Acts xxvi.5. Hence ο. anew, over again, indicating repetition, (a use somewhat rare, but wrongly denied by many [Mey. among them ; cf. his comm. on Jn. and Gal. as below]) : Jn. iii. 3, 7 ἄν. γεννηθῆναι, where others explain it from above, i. e. from heaven. But, ace. to this explanation, Nicodemus ought to have wondered how it was possible for any one to be born from heaven; but this he did not say; [ef. Westcott, Com. on Jn. p.63]. Of the repetition of physical birth, we read…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἄνωθεν. In P Petr III. 43(2) 15.117 (B.c. 246) ἄνωθεν is found in opposition to κάτω : Azat contextus. P Hib I. 110% (records of postal service, ¢. B.C. 255) Spas πρώτης παρέδωκεν Θεύχρ[η]στος ἄνοθεν Δινίαι κυ(λιστοὺς) ¥, ‘‘ Ist hour, Theochrestus delivered to Dinias 3 rolls from the upper country ” (Edd.). Ανοθεν appears again twice in this document, and κάτοθεν ‘‘from the lower country.” (This is a very early example of the approximation of o and @, on which see Proleg.® pp. 244 and 35 f.). BGU IV. 1208? (Aug.) KatayTH[oals ἐκ τῶν ἄνωθεν [τόπων]... ἐκομισά[μη]ν Sia Σωτηρίχου κτὰ. In P Tebt I. 599", 10 (B.c. 99) ἣν ἔχετε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἄνωθεν πατρικὴν φιλίαν, and διὰ τὸ ἄνωθεν

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἄνωθεν (anōthen) — from above/again.

ἄνωθεν

and ἄνωθε [Refs 5th c.BC+], Doric dialect ἄνωθα [Refs]: (ἄνω):—adverb of Place, from above, from on high, θεοὺς ἄ. γῆς ἐποπτεύειν ἄχη[Refs 5th c.BC+]; from the interior of a country, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially from inner Asia, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; from the north, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

2. like{ἄνω}, above, on high, opposed to κάτωθεν or κάτω, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: of the gods, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of men on earth, οἱ ἄ. the living, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; those on deck (in a ship), [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of birds of the air, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἡ ἄ. Φρυγία upper Phrygia, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. b rarely with genitive, ἄ. τοῦ στρατοπέδου[Refs 5th c.BC+]

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἄνωθεν

anothen

from 507; from above; by analogy, from the first; by implication,

anew:--from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top.

see GREEK for 507

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἄνωθεν

Adv

from above, from the beginning, again

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἄνωθεν anōthen 13x

from above, from a higher place, Jn. 3:31; of time, from the first or beginning, Acts 26:5; from the source, Lk. 1:33; again, anew, Jn. 3:3, 7; Gal. 4:9; with a prep., the top or upper part, Mt. 27:51

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἄνωθεν ἄνω adv. of place from above, from on high, Hdt., Trag., etc.; ὕδατος ἄνωθεν γενομένου, i. e. rain, Thuc.: from the upper country, from inland, id. Thuc.

= ἄνω, above, on high, Trag.; οἱ ἄν. the living, opp. to οἱ κάτω, Aesch.:—c. gen., Hdt.

of Time, from the beginning, Plat., Dem.:— by descent, Theocr.; τὰ ἄν. first principles, Plat.

over again, anew, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
54%from above
from above54% · 7×top23% · 3×from the first15% · 2×anew8% · 1×

13 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 4 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial85%predicate8%subject8%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 13 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
ἀπό
σχίζωI rend, divide aδύο
γεννάωI beget, bring forth
τὶςσύ
Article the
ἐκ
παρακολουθέωI accompany, follow
κἀγώ
σύ
δίδωμιI offer, give
ἄνωθενfrom above.13×
what comes after →
ἕωςuntil, as far as
κάτωdown, below, low
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
ἀκριβῶςComp
οὐNeg
δύναμαιI am powerful, a
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ἐπάνωon the top, abov
διά
οὗτος

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceἄνωθεν · 13× in the New Testament
John James Acts Galatians Luke Matthew Mark
Across the New Testament7 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 20 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 117c. AD 40

Ἐπεὶ δ’ ἐκ τῶν οὐρανίων τὰ ἐπίγεια ἤρτηται κατά τινα φυσικὴν συμπάθειαν, ὁ τῆς ἑβδομάδος λόγος ἄνωθεν ἀρξάμενος κατέβη καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοῖς θνητοῖς γένεσιν ἐπιφοιτήσας.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.27c. AD 75–95

ταύτης δʼ ὑπʼ ὄψιν οὐκ ἐρχομένης, ἀλλὰ βαθεῖ μὲν κρυπτομένης σκότει, πνεύματος δʼ αὐτὴν ἄνωθεν ἐπιθέοντος, γενέσθαι φῶς ἐκέλευσεν ὁ θεός.

Clement of RomeSecond Clement 14.2c. AD 96

οὐκ οἴομαι δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι ἐκκλησία ζῶσα σῶμά ἐστιν Χριστοῦ: λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή: Ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἅνθρωπον ἅρσεν καὶ θῆλυ: τὸ ἄρσεν ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστός, τὸ θῆλυ ἡ ἐκκλησία: καὶ ἔτι τὰ βιβλία καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὐ νῦν εἶναι λέγουσιν…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 2nd c. AD 1st c. BC 4th c. AD
PSI 8 905Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 25–AD 26

καὶ πάσης ἐμποιήσεως διὰ παντὸς ἐπὶ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον καὶ ποτιεῖ κατὰ τὰς ἔτι ἄνωθεν συνηθείας. εὐδοκεῖ δὲ ἡ τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίου γυνὴ Ταπαεῖς ἡ καὶ Ταπιτύνις Πετεεῦτος καὶ ἡ

P.Mich. 5 262ArsinoitesAD 35–AD 36

καὶ κατεργαζομένους καὶ κατασπείροντας καὶ μισθοῦντας καὶ τοὺς ποτισμοὺς καὶ τὰς ἐκχύσεις ποιουμένους ὡς ἄνωθεν εἴθισται καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀποφερομένους καὶ ὑποτιθέντας καὶ ἑτέροις παραχωροῦντας καὶ διοικοῦντας περὶ

P.Coll.Youtie 1 19Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoites)AD 44

αὐτῆς κυριεύοντας τῶν παρακεχωρημένων ἀρουρῶν καὶ τοῖς ποτισμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐκχύσεσι χρωμένους ὡς ἔτι ἄνωθεν εἴθισται, καὶ τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐσόμενα ἀποφερομένους εἰς τὸ ἴδιον καὶ … ὡς βούλονται

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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